Buyers guide to cycling clothing essentials

This is the bare minimum of cycle clothing you should have in your wardrobe.

Getting started with cycling is as easy as riding a bike, literally. But before you jump on your bike and start pedalling away, it’s important to ensure that you’re correctly attired.

If you’re serious about cycling, jeans and a T-shirt often won’t cut it. It’s not actually even about ‘serious’. Even fairly brief rides on a bike can end up being uncomfortable without a couple of bits of specific clobber.

To give you a good idea of what you should be wearing when riding, we’ve put together this handy list of essential cycling apparel.

Shorts

Close-fitting to reduce chafe as well as supporting muscle mass to reduce fatigue and aid recovery. The inner pad liner (sometimes called a chamois) is vital to this garment. It’s this pad that makes cycling hugely more comfortable. A chamois is much more important than your saddle.

Baggy shorts are popular with mountain bikers and leisure. This is mainly because the pure skin-tight lycra look is not a look that these riders feel comfortable with. Baggy over-shorts are also tailored to have a cycling-specific cut with a higher rise at the back and pre-shaped hems and so on.

The bare minimum you should have is a pair of liner under-shorts that you can wear under any of your other normal clothes.

Do not wear underwear under your cycling shorts. They are designed to fit against the skin and all your delicate areas.

Gloves

This is not just to keep your hands warm – although that is definitely one of the benefits.

The idea of cycling gloves is bit like that of the chamois in a pair of cycling shorts; having a bit of specific fabric between your skin and the contact point on the bike makes things massively more comfortable. No chafing. No raw bits. No pressure points.

Gloves are about comfort and gloves are about control. Gloves offer a consistent grip on the bars and the other controls. Better bike handling,. Safe bike handling. Gloves deal with skin moisture and sweat, preventing it from interfering with your grip and control.

Shoes

Even for riders using flat pedals, there are specific cycling shoes available. Essentially flat pedal shoes offer more stiffness than regular trainers and they have soles specifically designed to mate well with flat pedals. The difference between riding in trainers or running shoes compared to a pair of cycling-specific flat-pedal shoes is immense. You will feel much more connected to the bike and have greater pedalling efficiency.

Then they are cycling shoes designed to work with specific clip-in pedals. Think: ski bindings. Clip-in, twist-out. These shoes are stiff soled and have holes underneath for attaching a pedal cleat to. Being clipped into your pedals does wonders for your pedalling efficiency. There’s a reason why road cyclists all use clip-in pedals. It makes it easier.

Being clipped in an also help mountain bikers stay on their bikes when riding over the really rough stuff.

Jersey

A cycling jersey has three main roles: to fit properly whilst cycling, to deal with sweat and for storing a few things.

On the road, a close-fitting jersey that doesn’t flap about is a good thing. It’ll stay warmer when it’s cold. It will work to keep you cooler when it’s hot. Cycling jerseys are tailored to fit well when you’re on the bike and pedalling; raised front hem to prevent bunching up and dropped lower hem to keep your lower back covered when hunched over.

Three pockets on the back are super useful for carrying immediate supplies, a spare clothing layer and snacks etc.

Some mountain bikers aren’t overly bothered about close-fitting, nor indeed having pockets on the back. But they are concerned with sweat management and on-bike tailoring.

While you can wear a t-shirt when you go cycling, you’ll soon drown in your own sweat. Better to wear a specific cycling jersey made from a breathable fabric to keep you dry and cool no matter how long or hot the ride is, ensuring you remain comfortable all the way. Along with padded shorts, a good short sleeve cycling jersey for warmer weather is an essential part of any cyclist’s wardrobe.